Commenting on PAC report, Financial
sustainability of schools in England, Kevin
Courtney, Joint General Secretary
of the National Education Union, said:
"This report from the PAC highlights problems in the education
system that are long standing and have seriously hindered the
ability of schools to give every child the education they
deserve. Findings point to the larger proportion of
maintained schools in financial difficulty compared with
academies, and quite rightly criticises the Department for
Educations failure to understand why this is
happening.
'To get around shortfalls in finances schools have had to
balance the books by making decisions that no head teacher wants
to make such as cutting educational provision, increasing class
sizes, cutting subjects and removing support for pupils with
special needs. Add to this the fact that more deprived
schools are in greater financial difficulty than schools in
more affluent areas it is clear children's education is being
compromised.
'It is welcome that PAC has instructed the DfE to investigate the
committees concerns that some academy trusts appear to be
hoarding money rather than spending it on education and has
instructed the Department to investigate.
'The report could not be more damming of special needs
education. The fact that children most in need of support
are being failed by a system that is poorly funded and resourced
is a dereliction of duty and needs to be addressed.
'The NEU has been raising the same concerns as the PAC for
several years. It is high time the Government reverses the cuts
made to school funding since 2015. English schools now have the
largest primary class sizes this century and secondary class
sizes are the highest for more than 40 years. Children and young
people deserve better".
